All fans of the planet are looking forward to the main football tournament of the four-year period - the World Cup. Millions of spectators gather at the World Cup, the championship winners will forever inscribe their names in the history of sports. The World Championship is a real sports festival that cannot leave indifferent anyone who is somehow connected with sports.
To date, five world football championships have taken place in the 21st century. The geography of the world championships was extensive - the tournaments were held in Europe and Asia, on the African and South American continents.
World Cup 2002 in Japan and South Korea
In 2002, the FIFA World Cup was held in Asia for the first time. The countries that received the right to host the World Cup were South Korea and Japan. The Russian national team took part in this tournament. The tournament did not end with anything remarkable for our fans. The Russians were unable to leave the group.
The 2002 World Cup was marked by many sensations, including the passage of the Senegal national team to the quarterfinals, semi-finals with the participation of the national teams of Turkey and South Korea. As a result of the tournament, the Turks won bronze medals, and in the final match the Brazilian national team defeated Germany with a score of 2: 0. The victory of the Brazilians was the fifth in their history at the World Cup. The top scorer of the tournament with eight goals in seven meetings was the great Brazilian striker Ronaldo.
2006 World Cup in Germany
In 2006, it was the turn of the Germans to host the world football championship. The Russian national team was unable to pass the qualifying stage for the World Cup and did not play at the main world tournament.
The World Cup is remembered for its many outstanding matches. Lionel Messi made his debut on them in the jersey of the Argentine national team. True, the Argentines did not achieve success at the World Cup. As well as the hosts, the Germans, who lost in the semifinals to the Italians. However, the German national team was able to win the bronze medals of the championship, beating Portugal. Italians became the victors of the championship. In a penalty shootout in the decisive match, they outplayed the French national team (1: 1; 5: 4). This tournament was the last in the national team for Zinedine Zidane - a great player who personified an entire era in French football.
World Cup 2010 in South Africa
In 2010, a real football holiday reached the African continent. For the first time in history, the planet's football championship was held on the African continent. Among the vivid memorable events accompanying the championship, one can note the atmosphere in the stands. At all matches, Africans used vuvuzelas - special pipes that created an incomparable noise.
The game component of the championship was not so bright. The winners were the Spaniards, who showed "pragmatic" football. In general, the effectiveness of the championship was not at the highest level. The top scorer of the championship, Thomas Müller, scored only five goals in six meetings. The Dutch won the silver medal, and the German national team won the bronze. Russia did not take part in the championship.
2014 World Cup in Brazil
There seems to be no better country to host the FIFA World Cup than Brazil. The whole world plunged into the atmosphere of a great holiday. And without that, the football country was waiting for the world tournament. True, the dreams of the Brazilians were not destined to come true. The home team suffered a crushing defeat in the semifinals to Germany 1: 7, before losing to the Netherlands in the bronze medal match. The champions of the championship were the Germans, who stopped the team of Lionel Messi in the final of the Argentine national team.
The Russian national team took part in the tournament. Like 12 years ago, the Russians were unable to leave the group.
World Cup 2018 in Russia
The battles of the home World Cup are still fresh in the memory of Russian fans. It was a holiday for the whole country. Our national team gave vivid emotions to all domestic football fans with their play. The result is logical - reaching the quarterfinals of the championship, where only in the penalty shootout the Russian national team lost to the future finalists of the Croats. The victory in Russia was celebrated by the French team. For the French, this was the second triumph in history. The Croatians finished second, and a terrific generation of Belgians managed to win the consolation final against the British.
The top scorer of that championship was Hari Kane. The England and Tottenham striker has 6 goals in seven games.
